It was a great day for a beach walk!
The weather was great, and the sun shining. Here’s where the coastal waters mix on the tip of NC!
We did some relaxing
Which required shade in order to read on my Kindle app!
And then went on an hour walk
We saw birds, dolphins and this poor jellyfish.
And we would like to ask the scientists of the group if this is a snake skeleton or some kind of rough seaweed!?!? The pieces were hard – like bones. Mom didn’t believe it was a snake and picked it up, but I think it was!
When we came back, we had cocktail hour on the balcony.
I munched on a few cheese + crackers due to my appetite
And then we headed to the Bald Head Island Club again for dinner and were excited to find a nacho bar! March madness was in full swing.
As soon as we walked into the grill/bar room, Steve, our friend who works there, brought me a club soda and cranberry. He knows my favorite drink!
For dinner I ordered the fish tacos, which came with a black bean cake
Sadly these were not my favorite. They were missing a layer of flavor in some way or another. I ate half and shared with dad. Larbs shared some of her shrimp + grits with me.
We sat at the bar so we could watch the Duke game and quickly departed during halftime to go home for dessert and finish the game in the cozy suite. Sadly the game was NOT GOOD!
Mom just opened her presents – she received a bee-theme gift bag from me because her name is Buzz! She went by Buzz as a child, and Matt calls her Buzz. She hopes to be Grandma Buzz soon! I got her bee soap, a purse with a bee on it, a bee rattle, and a bee burp cloth to keep at her house!
Then we enjoyed cake, round II! Tasted just as good : )
Excited for night #2 in my awesome cozy bed!
{ 65 comments… read them below or add one }
Awe kath looks like you had alovely relaxing fun day ! The weather looks gorgeous ! Have a great Friday night
What a fun, relaxing day! Sounds perfect…. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Oh and my vote is that thing is snake skin!
I am an oceanographer… but I have no idea what that thing is… I can tell you that it does NOT look like a snake skeleton to me (at least from your picture).
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Snake_skeleton.jpg
I’m super curious if anyone has any other ideas!
Interesting! Do you think it could be a much smaller snake? Makes me think it’s some kind of seaweed fossil
Hi,
I’m getting my PhD in Bio and Envi Sci and that is an egg sack for sure. I’m not sure what species. I know it’s not a skate’s eggs. It might be welks.
There is no way that is a snake..they have vertebrae I believe.
Very cool! Thanks for the info! I’m also getting my PhD (in the next couple of months!!!)… but I study bacteria… which you can’t pick and look at!
So, it’s no wonder that I didn’t know about conch egg sacs!
Check out this pic, Kath: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stilljojo/2359693720/
Totally conch egg sacks.. It’s the coolest when a few babies are still in there!
Can they actually survive drying out? Amazing!
Yup, definitely whelk egg cases. Do a Google image search on that and you will find pics that look just like what you found. Some people call them mermaid’s necklaces.
You guys are so smart!! Thanks for the info!
fun! they are conch shell egg sacks. you should be able to open them up and see tiny tiny baby conchs…lara
reeaaallllllly. We’ll have to go back and find it tomorrow!
Lara is right. I didn’t know if that was what they were actually called or what I just called them. There are dozens of teeny baby conchs in each pod. Those were my favorite things to find at the beach.
Most likely whelk vs conch since conchs are only found in tropical (warmer) waters.
I concur with whelk eggs – I’m also a marine researcher – but usually the ones I find on the beach here in FL are empty and already hatched. Definitely go back and check! Baby whelks look just like very mini whelks.
It’s an egg case for a whelk!
fish tacos = vacation. sorry they weren’t stellar.
Looks like an incredible day Kath! You have such a great family! Enjoy the rest of your time with them.
Well the fish tacos sure do LOOK delicious! Sorry they were sort of disappointing! Ya win some ya lose some I guess!
Haha, DH (NC boy and huge Duke fan) was happy for Lehigh; said Duke should be embarassed
I knew it wasn’t a skelton. I thought it was some kind of sea plant though. Thanks for info and congrats to all of you on your degrees!
Thanks! And Happy Birthday to you!!
Thanks!
Hey Kath,
Yes, those are conch shells eggs! That’s one of the longest strings I’ve ever seen. Enjoy your time at the shore, the landscape looks beautiful!
Melanie
It is absolutely beautiful there!! Enjoy your sleep in the amazing bed!
Your day looks perfect compared to this dreary extremely rainy day here in nor. cal!
It’s probably coral, definitely not a snake! Haha. That dinner looks so delicious! and that poor little jelly fish!
Is that your sister? If not, you must be related! You look so much alike
The snake-like object looks like a whelk egg case…North Carolina is a little too far north for true conchs. Whelks look very similar though, and Lara was right – you should be able to rip some packs open and see little baby whelks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knobbed_whelk). I’ve been to Bald Head Island, it’s an amazing place! If you’re there in the summer, check out the sea turtle nest and hatchling walks – pretty cool!
Sorry for all the comments, Kath… but I just had to say that’s a great link, Sarah!
I just learned from the wiki page that those egg case strings are also called a “Mermaid’s Necklace”. How romantic!
That looks like a snake skeleton to me–yucky! I do not like snakes with a passion!!!
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
happy birthday to your mom, kath!
that is a lovely photo of your family (the first one, there) – it’s a keeper!
i hope duke did not lose already!
Have to say this: you can read a real book with sun glare
I am so jealous of your little family get away. I have three siblings and it is such a rare treat for us to be together with just us and our mom. Love my husband and their significant others, but there is definitely something that can be said for immediate family bonding time.
I know! Real books for the win
Ahhh looks like you are in paradise right now. And I must say that black bean cake looks really good. I’ve never thought to use black beans like that but am now tempted to try a recipe….!
It looks like snake skin to me…
gorgeous ocean pix, i can almost taste the salty sea air~ cant wait to see some water again~ the city has been a blend of Gray lately:(
Wow, that beach. THOSE are the beaches burned in my memory banks of NC beaches. Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach (and to an extent Myrtle but it’s so much more developed). I love this trip. It feels like a step back to my old life, almost 10 years ago, seeing these pics!
Lol! I have to share… I was reading your post and the comments so see what that thing was so I asked my boyfriend what things like a conch and a whelk were (my english is far from perfect and I had never heard those words before) and he was like: ”What the hell are you reading?”
You never know what you’re going the learn in the blog world!
Hahah! Whenever anyone has a question, the answer is always on the blog
I learned something from these comments! Now I want to comb a beach to find cool stuff.
looks like such a gorgeous place to be spending time!
I believe that is a egg sack for the horseshoe crabs. I saw lots of them when i lived in VA BCH and if you tour the Marine Science Museum there, they have them all around the touch tanks for the kids to see along with the horseshoe crabs themselves.
Looks like a lovely day for a walk on a beach.. wished I lived near one. However, today I am doing my first 5K and so excited. Have a great weekend Kath.
my bad.. guess i should have paid more attention at the museum..lol… hubby says i am wrong!! Oh well.. what else is new.. sorry
Good luck!!!
Sounds like a great day!! So jealous your by a beach though! Haha
Happy Bday to your momma, Buzz
She’s brave for picking up that… Snake?!
Thanks! I could never pick up a real one.
Happy birthday to the soon-to-be Grandma Buzz! How cute! My son likes to call his grandmas by their hair color, “the grandma with the brown hair” and “the grandma with the white hair” LOL. So sorry he Duke game was not good, at least the cake was.
HA!!!!
Thanks for the bday wishes Katie and everybody.
You and your sister look so much alike when you’re wearing shades
Happy Birthday to your Mom (one of my favorite bloggers!) She was super brave to pick that up, but it was very beautiful. I’m happy to know it’s a Mermaid’s Necklace and not any kind of icky snake.
Duke=ouch.
I’ve never been to Bald Head Island but I imagine it’s a lot like my beloved Jekyll Island.
Enjoy the rest of your stay
She will be so flattered that you said that : )
Thanks about the blog and we’ve seen two real snakes too!
What pretty scenery!
Wow, you sure have an impressive-smart group of readers here at KERF! Love learning something new just from the comments! (I always learn stuff from the posts!)
Happy bday to Buzz!! Her best-est gift will arrive in about 1.5 trimesters, yes??!!
Enjoy your lovely weekend!
Thanks! Can’t wait!
BHI sounds so nice! Do you recommend a particular part of the island ffor good beach access? I assume it is too cold for swimming there until June or so.
East Beach is the nicest for swimming and things, but yeah, it’s too cold right now!
Hi Kath,
Where do you guys stay at BHI? Can you recommend somewhere?
We stay at the Marsh Harbor Inn, which is currently the only “hotel” on the island. My dad has a timeshare here, which is why we get to come seasonally (but not in the summer). There are lots of houses (expensive ones) and also some reasonably priced condos – check out Royal James Landing.
Great family picture! And you’re definitely glowing
I can’t get over how breathtaking the scenery is there – it looks absolutely amazing and storybook-like.
It looks like you all had fun! The scenery is gorgeous. The tacos you and your Dad split look tasty. And the cake looks great as well. I hope you all had a fun time!
that is a conch shell egg case- a queen conch, I believe